Emerging Brazil

A series by Jason Margolis

In 2013, The World's Jason Margolis set out on a two-week reporting trip to Brazil to explore a central theme: As Brazil’s economy has boomed over the past decade, how has this new wealth translated into quality of life improvements for the typical Brazilian? And how has this economic growth changed Brazilian society, in terms of gender equity, gay rights, or infrastructure improvements? To tackle some of these questions, Margolis focused on Brazil’s two largest, and economically important, cities: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and their surrounding environs.

Ethanol has largely fizzled here in the US. But in Brazil, people have been driving their cars for years powered only by sugarcane ethanol. In recent years though, ethanol in Brazil has hit a speed bump.

As Brazil gets ready to host the Olympics and World Cup, the country won't just be dealing with threats from civil unrest. There's also the threat of terrorism. The World's Jason Margolis has more on that angle from Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro has spent much of the past year trying to "pacify" its favelas — slums around the city that are home to a huge portion of the metropolis's population — as well as its crime. On Tuesday night, one of those favelas erupted in violence, prompting question in advance of this summer's World Cup.

Brazil's economy has steadily grown for a decade, life has gotten better for the lower classes. More and more Brazilians have refrigerators, washers and cars. Other gauges of a middle class life are harder to acquire, like access to higher education.

When the US economy took a nosedive five years ago, Brazil's economy hardly skipped a beat. With the economic shift in fortunes, migration patterns between the countries have shifted as well. But as The World's Jason Margolis found out, not very cleanly.

In a little more than a year, Brazil will host the World Cup of Soccer. But while the Brazilian men's soccer players will continue to be celebrated, it has long been a different story for the other half of the population.

Sao Paulo is a tough place to get around. The city of 11 million, South America's largest, has notorious traffic. There is one quick way to navigate the streets of Sao Paulo though: Ride a bike. Problem is, you put your life at risk when you do.

Every now and then, we like to send our reporters to local record shops in different parts of the world to find out what's hot there. We sent The World's Jason Margolis to a shop in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he sent us this report.

Being gay in Brazil has long been something of a paradox. Gay culture is openly celebrated at events like Rio’s Carnival. But being gay can bring taunting and ostracism. There’s one place though where it’s okay to be openly gay: the beach. Or, at least certain areas of the beach. Here’s an audio postcard about Rio’s so-called “tribes” from its famous Ipanema beach.